Demonstrators clash in London following soldier's murder

London, Jun 1 (EFE). Far right demonstrators and anti-racists clashed Saturday in London's West End at protests called as a result British soldier Lee Rigby's murder by alleged Islamists on May 22.

Some 70 militants of the right-wing British National Party, or BNP, gathered in front of the Houses of Parliament to demonstrate against Islam and demand the expulsion of "the preachers of hate."

Separated from them by police, a much bigger gathering of Unite Against Fascism (UAF) and other anti-racist groups faced off against the BNP, angrily chanting "Nazis out."

Though both groups protested separately in London's West End and were kept apart by a police cordon, there were some clashes when members of both groups crossed into the other's territory, according to the local agency PA.

According to police, 58 people have been arrested for disturbing the peace.

BNP leader Nick Griffin originally planned to stage his protest in the Woolich district where the soldier was killed, but police would not allow it to avoid exacerbating social tensions.

Lee Rigby, stationed at a military barracks in Woolwich on the southeast side of the British capital, was stabbed to death as he headed back to his post at the Tower of London by two suspected Islamists who were arrested the day of the attack.

The two are Michael Adebolawe, 22, and Michael Adebolajo, 28, both British of Nigerian origin and converts to Islam. EFE